Sunny Weekend at Kalaloch

Sunny days in January are rare in these parts. Even more so on the Olympic Peninsula. A quick little internet research confirmed that Seattle has an average January rainfall of about 5 inches, while the Olympic Peninsula gets roughly 15 (ahem, see here and here for said thorough internet research). For further photographic proof, avid readers (and my favorite little brother-in-law Scott) may remember last year's trip to this very same spot at roughly the same time last year. It was grey skies, mist, and occasional showers all around. So imagine our surprise - nay, elation - when we stumbled upon a whole weekend of sunny weather there earlier this month.

We stayed at our now favorite spot, Kalaloch Lodge. The cabins there are just so cozy and well situated right on the most perfect stretch of beach. Two walks on the beach were had on Saturday. One in the glorious afternoon sun and the other at sunset with just a sliver of moon overhead.

The next morning we got up early, had a quick breakfast and headed back down to the beach while the morning tide was still out so Kevin could do some surf perch fishing. Clear sunny skies in the day make for cold, crisp nights and the remains of the nighttime chill greeted us on the beach Sunday morning. Have you ever seen frost covered sand? It's kind of magical. Since the sun had yet to come up, every inch of not-wet sand and drift wood was frosted in sparkle. Like a beach of glitter. My pictures don't come close to doing it justice, so feel free to use your imaginations. Note my boots and wool socks. I put on all of the knitwear for our chilly morning beach walk.

We had the beach to ourselves for a good while that morning since the other cabin-dwellers seemed not to want to brave the chill. The surf was so peaceful and quiet, with the most delicate little waves making their way slowly over the long, shallow beach. Kevin spent quite a bit of time with his feet in the water and came back with one surf perch. Not a spectacular catch, but it was just too cold to wade in any further and the tide was starting to come in past where the perch like to hang out.

As the sun came up, I did some good quality beach combing and warmed up a bit from the walk. Then, we headed back to the cabin, fried up the fresh catch with some potatoes and toast, and left daydreaming and plotting over summertime, sun-filed adventures. A clear sky weekend like this one makes you feel like summer's just around the corner.